


The Discs Never Worth More Than You Ever Were

by Anonymous



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Also Despite What The Fandom Tag Said This Is NOT an RPF, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Bad Spelling & Grammar, Blood and Violence, But Still Don't Ship Them, Codependency, Don't ship them, Emotional Manipulation, Ew, Gen, Have Been In This Site For Years Yet This Is My First, Istg They Should've Make And Use A New Fandom Tag, Lima Syndrome, Manipulation, Manipulative Relationship, Mind Manipulation, My First AO3 Post, No Romance, Only The Characters In The Dream SMP, Stockholm Syndrome, Unhealthy Relationships, Yes This Is Set In The Future And They Are Older
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:53:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29930277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “Thatis how you look like?” Tommy furrowed his eyebrows ridiculously, “okay.”Even after his mask off, Dream’s face looks weirdly stoic and empty. Tommy thought he could get a bit more of a glimpse on Dream’s expression without his mask.“Yes, that’s me!” Dream’s voice sounds like how he usually sounds, friendly and all buddy-buddy. Yet his face looks unnaturally flat. Not angry, not giddy, just a monotone face.Tommy’s face scrunched up and stifled a laugh, “You look like shit.”That sparked up a bit of emotion in his face. His eyebrows stiffen a bit, not impressed with that. “Come on we have to go,” he put his mask back on, grabbing the brat by the wrist. The lanky 18 years old looked annoyed, but followed the older anyway.They have a much more important thing to do.___In which Tommy joined Dream in immortality
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Jack Manifold & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbut Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 25
Kudos: 255
Collections: Anonymous





	1. In which Tommy killed Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Repost because for some reasons the work can't be accessed before? So if you have seen this before, yes that was me.
> 
> TW// Graphic Description of Violence, derealisation, codependency

There’s an odd atmosphere in the air. It’s too quiet. _Far too quiet._

(There used to always be that cheerful, loud and obnoxious sound of a brat. But not anymore, not after he left).

It has been -- What? 20 years? 30? To be honest, Tubbo can’t remember. What he remembered is that Tommy has been gone for a very long time.

(In reality it has only been 14 years, but life feels much slower without him).

Tubbo glanced at the scratches of lines that are littered on the wall of his room from the porch. Each stroke resembled one of Tommy’s death messages. Tubbo has never missed any of the death messages that appeared on the comms. Now, he regretted that he used strokes instead of numbers. The strokes are now far too much to count.

(There were 1.193.458 strokes on the wall. In some days, he wrote none. People might think those are good days for Tubbo, but on days like those he can’t stop worrying if Tommy didn’t respawn and stay dead. While on the other days when his death messages can go up to a hundred, Tubbo are even sadder and often cried).

To this day Tubbo still blamed himself for it. For exiling Tommy, for letting him go visits Dream, for not being good enough, for everything. He started to spiral into the never ending abyss of guilt and regret. A little bit of booze never fails to fill that pit in his stomach. He reached for the whiskey, carefully pouring it into a small cup.

(Once he used to drink and drink until the sun rises. But after Ranboo slapped him, waking him up to his senses for him to see Michael -- _His Michael, what has he done?_ \-- crying, trembling, and hiding behind Ranboo. Tubbo still remembered his face of _fear,_ afraid of _him,_ to this day. He sobbed and apologised, they all cried and hugged each other that night. No, he nevers- He swore to never stray any further from the bliss of a sober mind since that day. Only one small cup to relax his mind, and no more. Tommy never becomes the next Wilbur, so he will never be the next Schlatt).

Ranboo spotted his platonic husband at the porch and greeted him, “good morning!”

“Good morning too.”

The enderman hybrid then proceeded to go to the kitchen. He seems to be making pancakes, from the smell of vanilla in the air.

Michael came out from his room a couple of minutes later, rubbing his eyes while yawning. Before he was about to head to Tubbo and ask to sit on his lap, he spotted the small glass of whiskey on the porch's table, and subtly steered his destination to Ranboo instead. Tubbo was a bit too tipsy to realise that.

###  _< Dream > was slain by < TommyInnit >_

Ranboo punched a fist into the air and laughed with Michael, bringing him up in the air, cheering and laughed.

Tubbo smiled and brought his empty small glass of whiskey up, “Cheers, Tommy.”

He loves moments like these. There have been a lot of times Dream’s death messages popped up too. In the first few years of Tommy’s disappearance, there has been none of Dream’s death message. The first time Dream’s death message popped up, they were _ecstatic._

Ranboo joined Tubbo to drink a small amount of beer to celebrate. Fundy, who was staying over at the time, wagged his tail all day. Michael, who was already quite old to know what happened to his uncle Tommy, looked very happy too. Even though he doesn’t know anything about his uncle, he was just happy that Tubbo finally seems much more content and very much better than how he usually looks. They all made hot chocolate and cuddled each other in front of the fireplace that night.

Up to this point, Dream’s death message has been more and more frequent while Tommy’s death count has lessened. While yes, Tommy's death count is still undeniably much more than Dream’s, even Tubbo can tell without writing down Dream's death counts (he thinks Dream isn't worth his notes). Nonetheless, Tubbo still can’t help but to feel proud of his friend.

“Wherever you are, I’m proud of you, my friend.”

____

“HOLY FUCK YES FINALLY YOU SHUT UP,” Tommy wiped the blood on his check, grinning like a madman, “TUBBO IF YOU SAW THAT, YOU SHOULD BE SO DAMN PROUD OF ME NOW OR ELSE FUCK YOU BITCH.”

Dream’s mangled corpse is lying on the small river beneath him, mask shattered and the broken parts thrown a couple feet away, showing a pair of empty half lidded eyes. Tommy’s blade is still attached in Dream’s stomach, which is very much ruined, showing a couple of broken ribs and some meat that slumped and got snatched by a school of small fishes in the river. Dream’s blood is slowly spreading and dyed the river red. 

_“You know that I can hear you from here, right?,”_ Dream sighed. His expression is covered by his mask, but disappointment is seeping from his tone of voice.

Tommy stiffened at the way ‘translucent Dream’ looked at him, but he rolled his eyes nonetheless, showing a toothy smirk. It was pretty clear they both knew the smile is _forced_ and _fake_ and _artificial._

“I thought we have established that we shouldn’t kill each other in the water, Tommy,” Translucent Dream disappeared and instead Dream’s body suddenly jerked and choked Tommy, wiping that cocky grin off his face, “And near animals?”

His cat-like pupils glinted a subtle message that screamed ‘you fucked up’. Dream pushed Tommy’s head down to the river, drowning him as the younger weakly tried to push Dream away. The blood from Dream’s botched stomach was dripping, as some of his meat slumped to Tommy beneath him, and got tossed to the river for the fishes to enjoy. Tommy’s pushes and thrashes get weaker and weaker, while bubbles form on the surface of the river above Tommy’s face. Muffled ‘sorrys’ and choked sobs were heard beneath the water, but Dream ignored it.

###  _< Tommyinnit > drowned whilst trying to escape < Dream >_

Dream laughed hysterically but suddenly got cut off by his cough. Blood splattered from his mouth, painting Tommy’s dead body with red. He would’ve laughed again of the irony that Tommy’s signature color is red if not for his frantic coughs. He pulled out a regeneration potion from his inventory and drank it in a gulp, while putting his other hand on his stomach, keeping his intestines and insides _inside_ his stomach.

A long time ago, he would’ve revived the boy already and killed him again and again and again, but after Mexican Dream passed over to some kind of ‘next-level afterlife’, and Wilbur and Schlatt avoiding Tommy after _what happened,_ he knew which one breaks the boy more. Not to mention the complete numbness of the afterlife.

He sighed and grunted at pain in his stomach. He can see some feces pouring out of intestine, which is ruined and slashed thanks to Tommy. This is why they actually agreed on something and decided to never kill each other in the water, their bodies are much harder to collect there.

One of the biggest downsides of revival is that their body, their corpse, don’t instantly heal and stay as corpses when they get revived. It’s different from respawning. While respawning leaves you waking up with a fresh body -- yes maybe still littered with past scars, but fully healed nonetheless. Revival doesn't heal your body. It’s like putting back your should-be-dead soul in your should-be-dead body.

This resulted in Dream and Tommy having lots and lots of stitches and scars -- hell, Tommy only has one leg and used a prosthetic leg while Dream’s other eye is blind -- and truth be told they look more like walking corpses than immortal beings. Dream muttered a very soft and mumbled, “fuck,” and helplessly tried to assemble his intestines again. He’s sometimes grateful Tommy can’t look at him from the afterlife, else he’ll be laughing his ass off by now.

And that’s the reason for the second rule which is to try not to kill each other close to animals. Lots of part of his stomach are already eaten by those fucking fishes. Fuming with anger, he killed the fishes with his axe, eating them to replenish his health. His heart bar is slowly filling up, although the “Blood loss” effect is still not gone yet. He really has to get more of those totems.

After that one time Tommy’s organs were far too damaged that he ended up dying again and again after he got revived, Dream became very irritated. Amused, yes, but irritated. What’s the use of Tommy if he’ll just die repeatedly? ~~He’s very much not feeling any kind of concern or whatever.~~ After a long and rather messy event of Dream forced-totem-ing Tommy, his organs thankfully ‘respawned’ and worked again.

There’s a limit there though. At first Dream is not sure on what’s the limit because major and big scars on organs usually heal and work just fine again, but for some reasons Tommy’s leg and Dream’s eye never heal. Tommy guessed that it’s because the totem’s objective is to keep them alive, so it only heals parts of their body that threaten their lives. Dream scoffed at his idea, but they both know Tommy’s point is most likely the right reason.

Dream choked again, this time a bit more rough. His blood is now pouring - literally, from his mouth. his heart bar icon quickly decreased. Dream pulled out Tommy’s sword from his stomach and quickly grabbed a hold of his totem of undying before all the blood poured out.

He died.

Or not. He did die, supposedly, but the totem gave him life again. A flash of golden light enveloped him and before he knew it The “Blood Loss” effect bar was already gone. Dream smirked victoriously, eyes glinting, showing unnatural streaks of gold. Shivering, his eyes darted anxiously to the plain around them. With his mask shattered by that damned brat, his face is out in the open, and yes he is now very much uncomfortable even though there is no one there. It almost feels like he is naked.

___

_“ **That** is how you look like?” Tommy furrowed his eyebrows ridiculously, “okay.”_

__

_Even after his mask off, Dream’s face looks weirdly stoic and empty. Tommy thought he could get a bit more of a glimpse on Dream’s expression without his mask._

__

_“Yes, that’s me!” Dream’s voice sounds like how he usually sounds, friendly and all buddy-buddy. Yet his face looks unnaturally flat. Not angry, not giddy, just a monotone face._

__

_Tommy’s face scrunched up and stifled a laugh, “You look like shit.”_

__

_That sparked up a bit of emotion in his face. His eyebrows stiffen a bit, not impressed with that. “Come on we have to go,” he put his mask back on, grabbing the brat by the wrist. The lanky 18 years old looked annoyed, but followed the older anyway._

__

_They have a much more important thing to do._

__

___

__

Tommy has been in the void for at least 4 days. At least, he thinks it was. In the afterlife at least. It’s probably only around a quarter to one hour in the living world.

__

His mouth keeps gasping for air like a fish in land, but can’t feel the air filling his lungs -- if there’s any. He knew he couldn't feel the air but still panted for air anyway. He’s sure he has been crying, but he can’t feel the tears in his cheek. His hands were stroking his neck, he can still feel Dream’s rough hands choking him. He can’t feel anything. Not the cold (is it cold?) floor beneath him, not his hands, not his tears, nothing. The only thing he could feel is the red-hot feeling in his neck.

__

Dream. As much as he hates it, the pain in his neck is the only thing keeping him sane in this void. The pain keeps him human. _Dream_ keeps him _Tommy._

__

He wanted to vomit at that thought. But he knew that’s the truth.

__

The burning pain in his neck is the only thing he could feel. It feels like his whole body is nothing but the pain. Like he's _nothing_ without _Dream._

__

Suddenly he started to feel tears in his cheek. Tommy’s eyes widen, he’s being revived.

__

“Fucking finally,” Tommy rubbed his eyes, trying to stop the tears from flooding. Dream would look at him in disgust if he saw him crying. And that’s fine, it’s not like he ever comforts Dream when he is crying either. The darkness shifted to a much brighter scene.

__

Tommy’s corpse jerked upward, gasping for air that was now finally getting in his lungs. His eyes were burning from the exposure to the bright surroundings, but god he craved that pain, he craved that feeling, anything, something to feel other than the dark, black, void. Dream’s eyes showed a subtle glint of amusement. Tommy has been very observant by now, easily noticing the small ways Dream showed his emotions in his face. Choking out the water from his lungs, he scrambled to grab Dream’s hoodie.

__

“You are a bitch,” Tommy muttered, sweating and panting, yet he’s clawing Dream’s back like a lifeline. And Dream is _here_ \- he is finally feeling something. He could feel Dream’s soft murmurs in his ear, his hands clutching him, steadying him to stand, he could feel Dream Dream _Dream_ everywhere around him-

__

They stayed like that for a moment. Crooning soft whispers of comfort to each other, mumbling ‘sorrys’ and insults to each other. Tommy finally relaxed his hold of Dream’s hoodie. Dream quickly noticed it and pulled away. They both averted his eyes to the side.

__

Dream took a swift glance at him for a while which Tommy caught. His face is still out there in the open, no mask to hide his face -- his stock of the porcelain masks have run out--, eyes empty of emotions. After all these years Tommy doesn’t really find Dream’s blank face disturbing anymore. It’s almost comforting if he could say. It feels like the one and only constant thing in his life. Because he knows what to expect from Dream.

__

Also, he liked to play a game of his own to try and guess Dream’s expression. It has been pretty hard at first, but at last he got the hang of it. By now he has easily spotted the small ways Dream’s face shows the emotions he’s feeling.

__

The older yanked the boy’s arm hard, and Tommy doesn’t even flinch. He is already used to Dream’s antiques by now. He pulled him roughly, forcing him to go faster. 

__

“Why did you even kill me?”

_~~Dream didn’t sound angry -- he almost sounds fond, but that’s probably just an illusion. Tommy really should stop this game of ‘guessing Dream’s expression.~~ _

“...Compulsive- Complusiovary- Co-,” Tommy shut his mouth and thought for a moment, “Just blood lust.”

__

“I-,” Dream sighed, “That was unexpectedly expected. Can we like- let’s get back to- what were we talking again?”

__

“...---”

__

“Ah yes.”

__

___

__

Jack Manifold is living his best life in the moment, thank you. He has steady income from the hotel, he is now in a very warm place in this winter, Tommy is finally away from his life, he has healed from the trauma all the conflicts caused, The land is at peace. Tommyinnit’s death messages is set to mute because he couldn’t give a fuck about what is happening to Tommy.

__

The thing is, the last statement is a lie.

__

He kept track of how many times Tommy died. How he died. He also kept track of Dream’s death messages. No, not because he care -- that’s ridiculous -- but to understand what those two fucking bastards are planning.

__

The server is finally at peace, away from the never-ending conflict between Tommy and Dream, who has caused him and his friends and family so much pain. He would’ve loved to be the one killing Tommy and Dream over and over and _over again if he could._

__

Those two are planning something, he could feel it. Or maybe just Dream? Oh fuck, it doesn’t matter he hates both all the same. It won’t matter if Tommy just followed along or manipulated to do it, he knew they were both going to do something.

__

First of all, the fact that Tommy and Dream repeatedly die and live again and again? Everyone have been far too comfortable with this fact that they stop wondering how in the actual fuck do they did it. That’s _not possible_ \-- Well he did, so it’s not completely impossible but he doesn’t go and throw his lives around just because he can! And truth to be told he’s not even sure if he will still come back if he loses all his lives again.

__

There’s a lot of things that Jack thinks is kinda off about the situation, but for now he will go and make some hot cho-

__

_Scratch scratch._

__

Jack sighed, and tried to investigate what’s the cause of that sound in front of his front door. He opened it and found…

__

...A small baby panda.

__

He closed the door again. He couldn’t do this today, god. Rubbing his eyes, he looked over at the window. Was he hallucinating? The panda seemed to notice him in the window and- Oh god oh god, don’t pull out those shiny, wide, adorable, eyes on him. He shouldn’t feel bad. It’s the panda’s fault for going far from his natural habitat and getting through the snow. And how in the actual fuck did the panda strayed from a bamboo forest and went through the snow?? The closest bamboo forest is in at least 3000 blocks away?

__

The panda looked at him expectantly, but when Jack just averted his eyes shamefully, the shine in it’s eyes flickered. It whimpered sadly. The small baby animal was about to went back to the snow when-

__

Jack opened the door. He sighed for the hundredth time. The panda looked so goddamn adorable, who can even blame him? It scrambled and tackled Jack until he fell off to the soft carpet on the floor. That caught him off guard, but he rubbed and petted the Panda’s fur anyway.

__

He had always eyed Techno’s polar bear photos in Tubbo’s house, so figured maybe he should get one for himself.

__

“How about we name you Jack Manifold Junior? How’s that huh?” Jack nuzzled the Panda’s nose. The panda licked his face, causing Jack to laugh “That tickled!”

__

He would totally bring this adorable panda in the next family reunion.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have always wanted to write this work the moment Dream asked Tommy to join him in immortality, so I guess here I am.
> 
> Also, even though this work is set in the future and they are all older, please don't ship Tommy, Ranboo, and Tubbo with anyone. I personally don't mind if you ship the characters in this work or not, but I only tolerate shippers that respect the CC's boundaries. I never intended any romance between the characters.
> 
> Just for a heads up though, english isn't my first language and I never watch streams and stick to VODs and clips because of how cramped my schedule is. I'm currently a middle school student in an all-day school, so I don't have the time to watch streams. Although, I do read the recaps from the twitter account @.smpupdate (They need to make a patreon please, I feel like I should have paid for those recaps) and I also scrolled through twitter to see people discussing the plot.
> 
> Please do comment and leaves kudos if you want me to continue this work, I won't update this work if I ended up just talking to the void hahaha.


	2. In which Dream called in a favour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// Mentions of manipulation and murder (This work will most likely _always_ have mentions of murders and such, so I won't put it in the TW anymore for future chapters).

It was 10 AM. Jack just woke up and looked around. He wasn’t even drunk, but hell he won’t lie, he woke up everyday like a man in the effect of hungover. Why did he even sleep? He shouldn’t have sleep _that long._ What if he missed any of Dream and Tommy’s death messages?

He yawned while making his bed. It was shockingly very messy. _What the hell did he even do while sleeping?_ He almost never tosses and turns in sleep. Shrugging it off, he went to see his work table- _what the hell._

His work table was like a shipwreck. Notes of Tommy and Dream’s death messages, maps of the SMP, parts of the SMP that he has checked to find Dream and Tommy- _all of them were scattered all around._ Oh god was there a burglar in his house? He quickly checked his notes.

After checking and rechecking, he’s sure nothing was gone. Maybe he was sleep-walking? It’s not the first time he has done that. But all he has done was just going to the bathroom, pissing with pants on, taking off his pants after he was done, and going back to sleep again. He has never done anything remotely threatening to the important papers.

He rubbed his eyes. Dear god, he didn’t wake up just to get headaches. Jack Manifold has tried these god-knows-how-many years of this ‘wake up in the morning’ free trial and he would very much like to cancel his subscription from waking up.

At least none of his papers are ruined, he guessed. Maybe next time he should've tied himself to the bed. Jack doesn’t know what he would do if the papers are gone or destroyed.

The kitchen cabinet door creaked as he opened it to search for his morning coffee. Coffee are great in mornings, but he preferred hot chocolate before slee-

Hot chocolate.

_Hot chocolate._

He was _sure_ he didn’t make some hot chocolate last night. But he _always_ make sure he drink hot chocolate every night.. Something must’ve happened.

And that’s when he remembered all the events happening last night.

Jack bolted to his room trying to find the panda. Is it under the blanket? Shit, it’s empty. Where in the world is that panda? His heart is hammering in his chest right now. A blizzard is going on, that panda won’t survive in the extreme condition out there.

Oh well, at least he now knows who is the culprit of the mess and doesn’t have to tie himself to bed later at night.

___

Technoblade looked at his comms in disbelief.

###  _ < Dream > whispered to you : I’m calling in that favour._

This man, the one that has disappeared in 14 years. The one that disappeared with no explanation whatsoever. The one that has killed ~~his brother~~ Tommy repeatedly. The one that was an asshole in general, has the _audacity_ to sent him a whisper calling in a _favour?_

Well, fuck.

He knew he could’ve decline it, ignore it, and try not to give a fuck. _But the chat gave a fuck alright._

`WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK HECK NO HECK NO. Well Techno _does_ owe a favour for him. RIVALS COMEBACK???? KILL THAT HOMELESS TELETUBBY. Holy shit Dream?? IT HAS BEEN FUCKING YEARS DREAM WTF. I’m new who tf is Dream. WHISPERBACKWHISPERBACK ASK HIM HOW HE’S BEEN DOING. This sounds sus. What does he want?? Yo that psycho killed Tommy again and again wydm. Someone just asked who is Dream I’m- BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD Guys shut up!! Tell him, “Bestie I can’t do this today.”`

He tried to filter the voices out, deciding which one should he focus on. A couple of the voices suggested he whisper to him back. Which is reasonable. He typed in his comms.

###  _ < Technoblade > whispered to you : Where the fuck have you been._

Tommy glanced at Dream’s comms and snorted. “Type, ‘I have been harassing a poor man -- which is the best man in the world, by the way -- and being a bitch in general.’”

Dream smacked Tommy in the back of his neck _hard_ , the kid just laughed and scampered away, that devil. The older sighed, and looked back into his comms.

###  _ < Dream > whispered to Technoblade : It doesn’t matter. I need the favour. Now._

###  _ < Tommyinnit > whispered to Technoblade : WE ARE ALREADY AT THE FRONT DOOR OF YOUR HOUSE BITCH OPEN UP_

___

“No.”

“What do you mean by no, Techno?” Dream swung both of his arms around in disbelief, “It’s, like, you know? Not anything that’s like, slightly- not the slightest bit harmful in any kind of way!”

Techno grabbed his hoodie and looked at him dead in the eye, “I know you, you are the sickest, insane- _A fucking psycho._ I won’t spy Philza for you, that’s creepy and the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Who can guarantee what will you do with those -- _what is it_ \-- information! What are even going to do with that information! And what even am I going to report? Oh Mister Minecraft just cooked a pancake at seven, he watered some flowers at ei-” 

“Of course not in a stalking kind-of-way, I don’t have a fucking crush on him or something. Just- I don’t know! Try to find anything useful- Papers, notebooks, anything! Oh wait, he keeps an old journal with him doesn’t he?” Dream asked, while trying to let go of Techno’s hooves-like hands from his hoodie.

Techno’s eyes widened and his gaze snapped into Tommy’s direction. The kid smiled nervously, “Hi techn-”

“Don’t you dare ‘hi techno’ me. _How. Did. He. Knows?”_

“Well you see Big T, Dream and I-”

”And don’t you start with the nicknames, _we are not friends,”_ Techno said hoarsely, “We have long _stopped being buddies_ since you- since _Philza stopped calling you his son.”_

Tommy’s smile faltered at that for a moment but quickly laughed again, as if Techno just said something ridiculous, “Stopped being Mister-fucking-minecraft son’s? Did he- Did he fucking _disowned me?”_ He laughed in a mocking tone, “Ah well, that wasn’t unexpected anyway. That means he already…”

Tommy exchanged glances with Dream for a second. Techno looked at the blonde duo, _Did these two motherfuckers just-_

”I’m very sorry for saying this, comrade, but you _have to do it._ I saved your life, Techno, _your life._ Do you think I’m like, a rich- a billionaire or something? Do you think I don’t need that totem as much as you do?”

”No you don’t, because I’m not somekind of a stupid person. I’m a pig, not a bat. I'm not blind. I have _seen_ those hundreds and hundreds of death messages. I’m not blind. And guess what? You don’t need a genius to put two and two together. So factually, you don’t need that totem. I deserve that totem more than you ever did, Dream.” 

”Oh don’t you start bringi-”

Before Tommy could finish his sentence, Dream cut him off, ”You _promised._ It doesn’t matter if you deserve that totem or- or not. What matters is that you promised. You swore to it. You have spent 14 years breathing, living, and this- this is all because of _my help._ Like it or not, you owe me this favour.”

Techno’s mouth gaped, before closing it again. He yanked Dream’s hoodie away, turned around, inhaling shakily. He rubbed his eyes, calming himself down.

`Mf just barged in to our house then ask us for a favour, what are we? Your dog? JOIN HIM I'M STARVING FOR RIVALS CONTENT. Yo why tf is Tommy friends with Dream now?? BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD.Techno, don’t. You’ll regret this. WHAT WOULD DADZA THINK. What does this have to do with blood shut up. Is it just me or do they smell like… roadkill? It has been so boring lately, join him techie. HE HELPED YOU BLEW UP L’MANBERG. Guys, I’m all for joining him but he’s being very rude about it. Tommy feels off, remember exile arc? WHY IS TOMMY KINDA BADASS-LOOKING NOW WITH THOSE GREY HAIRS HAHAH.`

He turned back to them, “Okay, maybe- Yeah, that’s fair.”

`Techno, wtf. WHATTTT. YESYESYESYES RIVALS COMEBACK. BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD. WTF THIS IS ABT PHILZA TECHNO. I hate you techno bye. TECHNODUMB THIS IS DUMB. Wydm that’s fair that’s not fair. RIVALS ENJOYERS GRAB YOUR CRUMBS. I missed Tommy but why is he being such a bitch now. What would Dadza think. HELLLL YEAHHH LET’S FUCKING GOOOOO. Why does Tommy still looks 16 tho, shouldn’t he be like, 26 or something?`

”POGGERS! Now Blade now let’s-”

”I am _not finished_ , Tommy-innit,” His claws pointing dangerously at Tommy’s direction, shutting his up. He turned back to Dream, “Here’s the thing. There’s a reason Phil was called ‘The Angel of Death’. It won’t be easy for me to looked at his journal. And what am I even supposed to do? Steal it? He will immediately knew it. Write it down? It looks even thicker than a dictionary how am I going to copy it all down!? He will notice something is off.” 

“I got you, Techno,” Tommy smiled. A camera appeared from his inventory in his hands.

_Flash!_

A photo of Techno with squinting eyes printed out. Dream took it from the camera and held it in front of Technoblade.

“Caught in 4K.”

Tommy snorted, while Techno just stared blankly at Dream. _Is this- somekind of an inside joke or something?_

”Anyway, if you still don't get it -- nonono Techno I'm not mocking you I'm just overexplaining things as usual -- this camera is for you to take pictures of Phil's journal. By the way, I’m going to be living in your house -- maybe in your basement? -- just for a while. and oh, don’t worry I will definitely be paying you with these gapples and.. Emerald.. Uhhh, some netherite if you want-” 

”You’re going to be _what??”_

___

Technoblade was pissed.

This time, he knew he had full right to decline. Afterall, he has agreed to doing that goddamn favour. But he does really need more gapples and a couple other things. The snowstorm have been increasingly more frequent lately, and it's getting harder and harder to find resources.

So here he is, closing the door to the basement, staring at Dream snoring there. He sighed, and walked up to the upper floor.

Tommy wasn’t asleep yet, staring at the raging snowstorm outside.

`WHY DOES HE LOOKS 16 THO. Why does he have grey hair but looks 16 at the same time what. Now that yall mention it I just realised Tommy should be older??  He smells like a corpse. HE IS SUCH AN ASSHOLE NOW. Rudeinnit. Why is he with Dream?? DREAM’S ASSHOLE-NESS HAS RUBBED OFF ON HIM. Dream literally killed him hundreds of time why is he- I hate this Tommy. WHERE IS THE REAL TOMMY YOU IMPOSTER.`

Techno grunted, trying to catch the kid’s attention. Tommy ignored him and placed his hand in the window, awestruck by the whirling snow out there. 

”I have always like snowstorm, blizzard... or just loud weathers in general,” he mumbled, “Do you know that?”

”No,” Techno said.

“Yeah, I expected that,” Tommy laughed softly.

`HOW DID YOU LOOK 16 DON’T BE SHY DROP YOUR SKINCARE CHILD. Why does he smell of rotten flesh. WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN. I feel kinda bad for Tommy not gonna lie… Where has he been all this time? TOMMY HAS GREY HAIRS I REPEAT HE’S NOW OLDINNIT. Why is there gold in his eyes? HOW TF DID HE GET MORE THAN 3 LIVES ASK HIM. I have missed brotherly interaction, but this is not what I expected.`

Tommy scrunched his nose, “Chat, don’t be so noisy, Techno looks so tired of your shit.”

That caught Techno off guard, “How-”

”You were never good at hiding it. Wilbur and I already knew you are- somekind of a.. nutcase. But later on I knew you are the Blood God’s warrior at the Manberg versus Pogtopia War, after reading Philza’s journal. And the voices you heard are called ‘Chat’? I assume?” He finally turned to face Techno, eyes pale blue with streaks of gold gazing at his blood-red eyes. 

”I-” Techno’s face scrunched up, “You read Philza’s journal? Without permission? I- I knew we should have never trusted you. I don’t know what Phil was thinking, bringing you in. Phil took care of you, raised you, taught you things- and what did you do? You _used_ us, _betrayed_ us, as if we are just weapons to use and threw away.”

Tommy looked amused, “Raised me? _I raised me._ Philza raised _you._ I’m not mad big man, I’ve never thought of him as a father anyway.” He stretched his back. 

`He can hear us?? Traitor. I don’t think he can hear us, he just knows about us. I DONT LIKE THIS TOMMY. Yo I can the his pain in his voice. Nooo my family dynamic headcanon is crumbling. HE READ PHIL’S JOURNAL WITHOUT PERMISSION?? RUDEINNIT RUDEINNIT. Told you all Dream’s asshole-ness is rubbing off on him guys. HE READ THAT JOURNAL EVEN BEFORE MEETING DREAM. He abused our trust. BLOODBLOODBLOODBLOOD.`

”I can’t believe this,” Techno looked at him in disgust, “You’re sick. Just like Dream.”

”I am, I am,” Tommy grinned. He looked at the clock up on the wall and his smile dropped. Without warning, he opened the window and hopped off, running away to the snowstorm outside.

”TOMMY!” Techno shouted, head poking out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of Tommy’s signature vibrant red. He’s not sure if it’s because of how bad the storm outside is but he can’t see him.

Oh dear, what is that daredevil up to?

___

Tommy knew he shouldn’t feel like this. He knew he should’ve hated Dream.

Dream wasn’t nice. He has killed him. Repeatedly. And there are plenty of reasons why he should hate Dream. He’s an arsehole, a psycho, a madman, a murderer.

He has felt what it’s like to be killed by Dream. He has seen death, he has tasted death, he has been death itself at some point.

Dream is scared of death. He knew this. Tommy hated death. Does that make him scared of it too?

_”The train only came once.”_

Dream isn’t… a good person. He has manipulated Tommy in exile, making him sad and even _suicidal._ He’s not suicidal. Not anymore. He has tasted death and he doesn’t like it.

_He smiled ruefully, “The train only came once and you wasted it.”_

Is Dream manipulating him now? He’s not sure. Hurting him, yes. But he honestly doesn’t know if he is manipulating him.

_”You are doomed to get stuck in this place, Toms. The train has left this station.”_

Tommy’s hand clenched. He doesn’t want to get stuck there. Not in that endless vast of pitch black nothingness, the place where it feels so wide yet at the same time so _small and cramped and no- no, he doesn’t want to be there._ He doesn't want to die. He needs to stay alive. He needs Dream just as much as Dream needs Tommy. Without Dream he would be a nutcase by now.

_”This place is not welcome for ones who don’t belong in both planes.”_

He belongs to Dream. He is Dream’s. ~~He wouldn’t have get in this situation if Dream just lets him fucking die.~~ He would be nothing by now without Dream. He should be grateful that Dream pitied him.

Living with Philza was a waste of time. Thanks to him his instinct has dulled down. Survival of the fittest is a motto he has forgotten during his stay at the man’s house. Stealing, thievery, lies, are games he stopped playing long ago. Dream has introduced him to a new game, bringing Tommy’s old tricks back in his blood.

Dream is hosting a game of chess, and Tommy is his pawn. Tommy knows how to move and Dream told him where to move. Tommy needs a commander, and Dream needs a vassal. They are both playing a game of chess, the only difference is that the player keeps capturing his own pawn and the pawn keeps getting back on the board.

_”Why don’t you just leave me to die?” Tommy asked once._

_Dream raised one of his eyebrows, “Do you want me to?”_

_”W- well, I just.. Don’t understand what’s your motive. It would be- It would be so easy, leaving me.. There.” ~~Alone and stuck and trapped.~~_

_”You are right,” Dream turned to face him, “Wouldn’t that be easy?”_

_Tommy subconsciously put his arms protectively in front of him and laughed nervously, “Wait Big D I- I was only aski-”_

_”Wouldn’t that be wonderful Toms?” Dream grabbed his wrists, “Wouldn’t that means the world will finally get rid of you, get rid of their tiny, little, annoying pest? Finally living their ‘happily ever after’?”_

_Dream’s nails were clawing, digging into his skin, the younger didn’t have his old courage to stand up for himself anymore. “That’s why **you should be grateful Tommy Innit.** ”_

_”Remember who you belong to. I’m just being merciful here.”_

_Without warning, Dream unsheathed a dagger from his inventory, stabbing Tommy in the chest. And Tommy- Tommy just stared blankly at his chest, gazing at the knife, too shocked to open his mouth._

_The younger leaned into Dream’s chest, he is tired, far too tired to say anything. The older held him -- hugging him you could say, crooning him, “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I would be here the whole time, Toms. It would be short and quick and before you know it it’s already over. Just like all the other times. You can do this, don’t you? You’re a big man aren’t you?”_

_”I don’t,” Tommy forced himself not to flinch as he felt Dream pulling out his dagger, causing his blood to pour out, “I don’t think I want to be a big man anymore Dream.”_

_Dream said nothing to that, his smiley mask emptily looking at him. And just like falling asleep, he didn’t remember when was the start of the afterlife and when the living world ended. He just- All he knew is that before he knew it he’s already back here, ~~he’s trapped he’s trapped heistrappedheistrappedHEISTRAPPEDHEISTRAPPED IN THIS CRAMPED SPACE AND DREAM WON’T LET HIM OUT AND LEAVE HIM HERE ALL ALONE.~~_

_And just like falling asleep he dreamt. He dreamt but he is conscious the whole time and he’s not sure if it’s a good dream or not. He dreamt that all his senses felt numb. He dreamt that he doesn’t feel anything, only Dream’s hug before he died. Only Dream. ~~He isn’t going to leave him doesn’t he? Don’t leave me here alone. He didn’t know what he would do if he can’t feel Dream’s hug.~~ Sometimes he’s not sure if he really couldn’t feel anything in the void or if he’s just too focused on the way Dream feels. Sometimes he wonders if Dream’s touch wasn’t even there and he was just starving for something, **anything,** to feel. It’s the only thing he could feel. He’s okay, he will get out eventually, Surely he will get out of here._

_~~Right?~~ _

Tommy yawned, cracking his knuckles. The snow felt so cold in his skin. ~~But it’s alright and he loves it because it’s better than feeling nothing at all.~~ But it’s alright because Dream needs him for this. 

He needs to be somewhere important now.

___

Jack has begun to wonder if the panda from last night was merely a fever dream. A hallucination. It all feels like one wild hallucination episode.

But does that means that he _really did sleepwalk? Oh dear, maybe he should really tied himself in the bed._ Or was the messy desk also a hallucination and he’s-

_knock, knock._

There’s _the panda._ Outside. Smiling innocently while tapping at the door with it’s paw.

Jack yelped, quickly opening the window and took it in. How did he go out there? Dusting the snow from it’s fur. The panda has been out there for _hours._ Tired, it leans to Jack’s warmth. The man stiffened, but relaxed at last and cradled it to the couch in front of the fireplace.

The panda sneezed and nuzzled further into Jack’s chest. Jack chuckled. Maybe Jack could rest for a while again and not stay up all night waiting for that death message ping sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that I accidantelly switched off between present tense and past tense repeatedly in some parts, so I'm very sorry about that. English isn't my first language, so if bad grammar is bothering you, don't hesitate to point out typos and grammar errors!
> 
> I hope my explanation on why Tommy are even with Dream in the first place is understandable. I was aiming for a bit more vague explanation. If you don't understand it, that's okay! I was aiming for it to not be very understandable anyway (don't ask me why I did that, I also don't know) and I will explain it more thoroughly in a certain future chapter.
> 
> There was actually a scene where Tommy made a snowman while Dream was typing in comms, and then threw a snowball. Dream, thinking it's just snow, didn't budge and _oh shit Tommy put a rock in it._ But it didn't work out well and I can't describe it well so I deleted ot.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I almost discontinued this work because I wasn't sure anyone would like it. So I'm very glad that there are people who enjoyed this! Kudos and comments are very much appreciated, it legit melted my heart :'>


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